The Senior Deputy Speaker

State Visits: China

Lord Alton of Liverpool: To ask the Senior Deputy Speaker whether House of Lords authorities were consulted ahead of the visit of the Ambassador of the People’s Republic of China to the parliamentary estate.

Lord Gardiner of Kimble: No such visit had been planned for the House of Lords part of the parliamentary estate. Neither House routinely consults with the other regarding bookings taken for use of their facilities.

Question

Lord Blencathra: To ask the Senior Deputy Speaker whatdiscussions he has had with the Clerk of the Parliaments regarding the attire of the Table Clerks in the Chamber of the House of Lords, particularly the resumption of wearing horsehair wigs.

Lord Gardiner of Kimble: Last year, as part of our necessary response to ensure business resilience during the COVID-19 pandemic, six additional members of staff were added to the Table Clerk rota. Full uniform was not worn by these new appointees, due to the significant procurement cost and uncertainties as to the duration of the expanded rota. In light of this the then Clerk of the Parliaments decided that uniform for all Table Clerks should be a formal gown over business attire.An expanded rota of Table Clerks will remain in place, as it supports the resilience of the Chamber and allows a greater number of staff members to develop knowledge and understanding that is essential to the operation of the House. The costs of procuring and maintaining full uniform for a larger pool of Table Clerks would be significant. The Clerk of the Parliaments has therefore reviewed the situation and has explained to me that the current wearing of a uniform of formal gown over business attire allows Table Clerks to be identified, and respected, in the Chamber while also being appropriate for Clerks as officials performing their duties in supporting a professional, working House conducting regular business. Full uniform will continue to be worn by those Clerks participating in ceremonial occasions such as Introductions and Prorogation; and for State Opening, at which wigs will also be worn.

Treasury

Health and Social Care Levy

Lord Dodds of Duncairn: To ask Her Majesty's Government whether the funding to be allocated to the devolved administrations deriving from the health and social care levy may only be spent by those administrations for the purpose of (1) health, and (2) social care.

Lord Agnew of Oulton: For 2022-23, receipts from the increase in National Insurance contributions (NICs) will go to the NHS or equivalent in each part of the UK. This builds on existing arrangements whereby a proportion of NICs is legally required to be allocated in this way. From April 2023, there will similarly be a legal requirement to allocate the Levy revenues to health and social care in each part of the UK. The overall level of funding provided to the devolved administrations will continue to be determined through the Barnett formula, including at the upcoming spending review.

Housing: Prices

Baroness Ritchie of Downpatrick: To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessmentthey have made of theimpact of changes in the level of house prices on the UK’s economic recovery.

Lord Agnew of Oulton: HM Treasury does not prepare formal forecasts for house prices or the outlook on the UK economy, which are the responsibility of the independent Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR). In its March forecast, the OBR expects that GDP will grow by 4% in 2021 and return to its pre-Covid peak in 2022. The OBR also forecasts annual house price growth of 5% in 2021. Further details can be found in the OBR’s latest Economic and Fiscal Outlook published in March 2021: https://obr.uk/download/march-2021-economic-and-fiscal-outlook-executive-summary/ The OBR will publish an updated forecast on 27 October 2021. The Office for National Statistics (ONS) also publish estimates of house prices in the UK. The latest available data shows that UK average house prices reached £266,000 in June 2021

British Venture Capital Association

Baroness Ritchie of Downpatrick: To ask Her Majesty's Government what meetingsthey have had with the British Venture Capital Association on private equity.

Lord Agnew of Oulton: Ministers and Government officials routinely meet with representatives of various institutions and organisations as part of ongoing policy development and stakeholder engagement. This engagement has included the British Venture Capital Association, amongst others.

UK-EU Trade and Cooperation Agreement

Baroness Ritchie of Downpatrick: To ask Her Majesty's Government what estimatethey have made of the impact of the UK–EU Trade and Cooperation Agreement on (1) the value of financial assets, and (2) the number of financial services sector jobs in the UK.

Lord Agnew of Oulton: The UK-EU Trade and Cooperation Agreement gives legal certainty for financial services firms to the extent set out in both sides’ market access offers and generally in the services chapter and financial services sub-section. The Agreement will benefit financial services firms’ clients and the wider economy in which they operate. In January, the Governor of the Bank of England stated that between 5,000 and 7,000 jobs had moved due to Brexit. Over a million people are employed in UK financial services. ONS data shows that jobs in financial and insurance activities have increased from 1.27 million in June 2016 at the time of the referendum to 1.45 million in June 2021. We continue to work closely with the Bank of England and Financial Conduct Authority to monitor any relocation of financial services activity from the UK to the EU. In his Mansion House speech on 1 July, the Chancellor set out the government’s plans to make the UK the world’s most advanced and exciting financial services hub, to create prosperity at home and help the UK project its values on the global stage.

Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government

Housing: Carbon Emissions

Baroness Whitaker: To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the Future Homes Task Force Delivery Plan to deliver net zero homes.

Lord Greenhalgh: On the 27th July, the industry-led Future Homes Task Force published a Delivery Plan that sets out the action needed from industry to deliver new homes in line with government’s climate, environmental and sustainability targets by 2050. Relevant government departments (MHCLG, BEIS and Defra) were consulted on the development of the Delivery Plan, which aligns with upcoming regulation such as the Future Homes Standard and with wider environmental policies and priorities such as those on bio-diversity net gain and water efficiency.The Task Force also announced the creation of the industry-led Future Homes Hub to oversee implementation of the Delivery Plan. The Future Homes Hub will help industry by coordinating pilot developments and prototypes, identifying operational solutions, carrying out research and analysis into delivery challenges and producing technical guidance. The knowledge and outputs from the Hub’s work will be freely shared with industry to help minimise costs and support effective delivery, which will be particularly helpful for SMEs.It is right that industry leads this work and steps up where necessary to ensure it can meet the challenges associated with the country’s net zero ambitions. Government is pleased to support the work of the Future Homes Hub and senior officials from MHCLG, BEIS, Defra and Homes England sit on the Hub’s board in non-executive roles, helping advise on its programme of work and offering strategic guidance.

Local Goverment: Coronavirus

Lord Moylan: To ask Her Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answer by Lord Greenhalgh on 7 December 2020 (HL10627), when they expect to publish the three-month review of the spending of the £30 million allocated on 8 October 2020 to help local authorities in England fund their COVID-19 compliance and enforcement work.

Lord Greenhalgh: In November 2020, a £30 million ringfenced Compliance and Enforcement Grant was allocated to all district and unitary authorities in England to spend on COVID-19 compliance and enforcement related activities. In January 2021 MHCLG issued an activity and spend survey to all councils in receipt of the grant. The responses from this informed a review of how the grant was being utilised.The Department have no plans to release the findings of the three-month review. Information was provided in confidence by local authorities during the grant period to support the development of Government policy. The information gathered as part of the review was used to inform successive iterations of the ‘Local authority COVID-19 compliance and enforcement good practice framework’, (attached) which was archived on 19 July 2021 but it still available for reference.Local authority COVID-19 good practice framework (pdf, 922.2KB)

Grenfell Tower: Monuments

Lord Bourne of Aberystwyth: To ask Her Majesty's Government what budget they are providing to the lasting memorial of the victims of the Grenfell Tower fire; and how that budget will be apportioned between (1) capital costs, and (2) the costs of maintaining the memorial.

Lord Greenhalgh: The Government is supporting the independent Grenfell Tower Memorial Commission and has committed to funding its work. Once the Memorial Commission has established its vision for a memorial on the Grenfell Tower site, my Department will work to establish and agree an appropriate budget.

Grenfell Tower: Monuments

Lord Bourne of Aberystwyth: To ask Her Majesty's Government who will make the decision on a lasting memorial to those who (1) suffered, and (2) lost their lives, at Grenfell Tower; and when the decision will be announced.

Lord Greenhalgh: In March 2018, a set of Principles that underpin the decision-making process in relation to the future of the Grenfell Tower site were agreed and published, (attached) which led to the establishment of the independent Grenfell Tower Memorial Commission. The terms of reference for the Memorial Commission are to establish a proposal for:What happens to the Grenfell Tower site in the future, assumed to be a fitting memorial to remember those who lost their lives; andHow the memorial site will be owned and sustainably managed for the long term.The Memorial Commission is made up of representatives of the bereaved, survivors and local residents, and will work with the local community to agree a consensus on the most fitting and appropriate way to remember those who lost their lives in the Grenfell tragedy. The Memorial Commission is continuing to work with the local community to establish its proposal. Future of the Grenfell Tower site (pdf, 972.7KB)

Ministry of Defence

Afghanistan: Immigration

Lord Empey: To ask Her Majesty's Government what guidance they have made available to individuals approved for the Afghan Relocations and Assistance Policy scheme; and when they anticipate those individuals can be relocated from Afghanistan to the UK.

Baroness Goldie: The Afghan Relocations and Assistance Policy (ARAP) for those who worked with the UK in Afghanistan is not time-limited and will endure. We are now looking at all possible avenues to facilitate relocation, from third countries if possible, for those eligible.To anyone to whom we have made commitments - and who is currently in Afghanistan - we are working urgently with our friends in the region to secure safe passage. As soon as routes are available we will do everything possible to help these eligible individuals to reach safety.

Afghanistan: Armed Conflict

Lord Lancaster of Kimbolton: To ask Her Majesty's Government what plans they have to amend the qualification criteria for the Operational Service Medal (Afghanistan) to ensure that service personneldeployed to theatre during Operation Pitting qualify.

Baroness Goldie: Medallic recognition for the evacuation in Afghanistan will be considered in due course. The current qualifying length of service is 30 days and any decision to change that will take lengthy consideration.Medals or awards for individual acts of bravery or leadership are separate to the length of deployment criteria and are therefore considered based on a citation by citation basis.

Department for Work and Pensions

State Retirement Pensions

Lord Dodds of Duncairn: To ask Her Majesty's Government what discussions they had with the devolved administrations before their announcement of the one-year suspension of the "triple lock" on state pension payment increases.

Baroness Stedman-Scott: One of the benefits covered by the Social Security (Up-rating of Benefits) Bill - survivors’ benefits in Industrial Death Benefit - is devolved to the Scottish Parliament. The Department is temporarily delivering them on behalf of the Scottish Ministers under an Agency Agreement which provides that legislative parity must be maintained, of which there are around 300 recipients of these benefits in Scotland. The Secretary of State therefore wrote to the relevant Cabinet Secretary in the Scottish Government ahead of its introduction seeking a decision on whether they would be taking primary legislation in the Scottish Parliament or through a Legislative Consent Motion to allow this Bill to provide the appropriate powers to enable Scottish Ministers to deliver uprating legislation in tandem. The other benefits in the Bill are reserved matters in Scotland.Social security is a transferred matter in Northern Ireland. The Northern Ireland Executive has the power in section 132A of the Social Security Administration (Northern Ireland) Act 1992 to mirror the Up-rating Order in Great Britain made under section 150A (in this case, as temporarily amended). Therefore, the draft Bill does not need to extend to Northern Ireland and no primary legislation is required in Northern Ireland. However, the Northern Ireland Act 1998 sets out that the Secretary of State and the Northern Ireland Minister will seek to maintain a single system of social security, to the extent agreed between them. Officials in the Department for Work and Pensions in Great Britain and the Department for Communities in Northern Ireland have therefore been in discussion on the issue.Social security is a reserved matter in Wales.

Department for International Trade

Trade Promotion

Lord Grocott: To ask Her Majesty's Government what the current annual cost of the Trade Envoy programme is.

Lord Grimstone of Boscobel: In 2019-20 the cost of the Prime Minister’s Trade Envoy Programme was £651,387. All costs incurred are subject to departmental restrictions and guidelines which apply to the programme’s use of public funds.

Trade Promotion

Lord Grocott: To ask Her Majesty's Government to list the current trade envoys broken down by their membership of the (1) Conservative party, (2) Labour party, (3) Liberal Democrat party, (4) Crossbench group in the House of Lords, and (5) Non-affiliated peers in the House of Lords.

Lord Grimstone of Boscobel: There are currently 36 Trade Envoys. A full list including their political affiliation is below.  Trade Envoy Political party1Andrew Selous Conservative (1)2Baroness HooperConservative (1)3Baroness MeyerConservative (1)4Baroness Morris of BoltonConservative (1)5Baroness Nicholson of WinterbourneConservative (1)6Conor BurnsConservative (1)7Damien MooreConservative (1)8Daniel KawczynskiConservative (1)9Darren HenryConservative (1)10David MundellConservative (1)11Dr. Andrew Murrison Conservative (1)12Felicity BuchanConservative (1)13Heather WheelerConservative (1)14Helen GrantConservative (1)15Katherine FletcherConservative (1)16Laurence RobertsonConservative (1)17Lord Astor of HeverConservative (1)18Lord LamontConservative (1)19Lord PopatConservative (1)20Lord Risby of HaverhillConservative (1)21Marco LonghiConservative (1)22Mark EastwoodConservative (1)23Mark GarnierConservative (1)24Mark Menzies Conservative (1)25Martin VickersConservative (1)26Richard GrahamConservative (1)27Theo ClarkeConservative (1)28Lord FaulknerLabour (2)29Rushanara Ali Labour (2)30Stephen TimmsLabour (2)31Lord BothamCrossbench (4)32Baroness HoeyNon-affiliated (5)33Lord Austin Non-affiliated (5)34Lord Davies of AbersochNon-affiliated (5)35Lord WalneyNon-affiliated (5)36Sir Jeffrey DonaldsonDemocratic Unionist Party

Trade Promotion

Lord Grocott: To ask Her Majesty's Government whether the change in title from the Prime Minister's Trade Envoys to Trade Envoysindicates a change in accountability.

Lord Grimstone of Boscobel: There has been no change in title or accountability of the ‘Prime Minister’s Trade Envoys’, however the formal title is occasionally shortened to ‘Trade Envoys’ for brevity.